Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a science fiction action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. It was released on October 16, 2018 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, followed by Microsoft Windows on April 30, 2019. The game also features optional toys-to-life elements.
The Switch version contains exclusive content approved by Nintendo to include characters from the Star Fox series as special guests, also in application to the toys-to-life, contributing to this port's popularity, as fans find their inclusion a great fit for the game's setting.
This title received generally favorable reviews, with IGN praising the game for its combat, exploration and the inclusion of Star Fox, though criticized the repetitive nature of the gameplay.
Plot[]
Starlink is set in the Atlas star system. Early on in the game, the player's mothership, Equinox, is ambushed by the Forgotten Legion and crashes on a nearby planet; the captain of the Equinox is taken hostage. The Legion's leader, Grax, is obsessed with an extinct race called the Wardens, who left much of their ancient technology behind. Grax, who wants to use such technology for his own legion, acts as a constant threat that the player must face throughout their journey.
The Starlink Initative and Star Fox teams in a partnership to stop the Forgotten Legion
For the Star Fox crossover in the Switch release, the Star Fox Team - Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, and Falco Lombardi, assist the main Starlink characters, Mason Rana and his Starlink Initative team, on rescuing is founder Victor St. Grand, while they themselves are searching for Wolf O' Donnell and his Star Wolf Team (Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar, and Andrew Oikonny), to stop their wicked scheme of assisting Grax.
Gameplay[]
Gameplay screenshot of the Nintendo Switch version, showing Fox in his Arwing listening to Hunter Hakka
Starlink: Battle for Atlas is an action-adventure game third-person perspective set in the Atlas star system. The player ventures into different parts of the Atlas system, meet with different aliens species and form an alliance with them in order to build a crew. Forming these alliances changes the game's world state, which will then changes the gameplay experience. In the game, the player can use their spaceships to freely explore the open Atlas system. Split-screen multiplayer mode is also featured in the game, allowing two players to explore the space and planets together. All ships can take off into space, and skim on the planet's surface. The transition between space and the planets' surface is described as "seamless". Each planet has their own landscape, story, hazards, flora and fauna that may become a threat to the player. The player can also engage in both space- and land-based combat with enemies using spaceships (similar to the Star Fox series). These spaceships can be extensively customized with different parts. Wings, weapons, and spacecraft modules can be freely swapped at will. The player is encouraged to experiment with different combinations of weapons as different enemies react differently to attacks. Pilots are also present and have special abilities that can be utilized in combat. For instance, one type of pilot can slow down time. There are 4 types of ships and pilots.
Toys-to-life accessorie.
While the game can be played digitally, the game features toys-to-life elements in which the player can buy toys, which are ship components, for the game. The player can place their toys on a custom controller mount, and their digital counterpart will appear on-screen. When the player swap the components of their real-life toy ships, its counterpart will also reflect such changes instantly. Each ship has two points which allows the player to connect spacecraft parts with the ships. Purchasing a physical part also unlocks its digital counterpart, meaning that the player does not necessarily have to use the toys and the controller mount to play the game.
Star Fox references[]
- Fox recites his "rock and roll" quote he spoke at the start of the Corneria mission in Star Fox 64 and subsequent re-releases and remakes.
- Not in the game itself, but the September 13 Nintendo Direct Clip for Starlink's title, "Playtime is over, Starlink", is a paraphrase of Wolf's line to Fox McCloud on Bolse. Similarly, the narrator opens the segment with "Don't get too cocky, Star Fox", which is what Wolf declares upon arriving at Venom with the Wolfen II.
- Fox McCloud greatly resembles his character design used in-game and in artworks. The Arwing resembles its Zero appearance, complete with yellow tipped wings, but follows the art-style of Starlink and has aesthetic high-functionallity akin to Star Fox: Assault. Similarly, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, and Peppy Hare each share a similar character design used in-game and artworks. Wolf O'Donnell and his team also resemble their designs from Star Fox Zero.
Development[]
The game was developed by Ubisoft Toronto for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Development for the game begun after the CEO of Ubisoft Yves Guillemot assigned the team to create a new game which mixes "breakthrough technology and innovative gameplay". Shortly after, a small team of 10 developers began brainstorming different ideas and pitching it to the developers. The team eventually came up with the idea of creating a new toys-to-life game, and this idea was approved by Guillemot. The team then soon began prototyping the technology of a Starlink spaceship, which includes exposed wires and duct tape. Nonetheless, it received an enthusiastic reaction from the team and they soon began working on creating the Atlas system, which set the game's foundation as an open world game. While the game was originally intended for kids aged between 8 and 11, the team later changed the target audience to include a wider age group after seeing the positive reaction from parents who have watched their children playing the game. The game features a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode as the team thought that it will be interesting to see players exchanging parts for their ships during play. According to the game's producer, Matthew Rose, the team "never want to tell kids they're being creative wrong". Therefore, the team allowed players to combine all parts freely, including having the wings of the spacecraft placed upside down and the weapons facing backward.
The toys-to-life technology featured in Starlink was developed in-house by Ubisoft Toronto. To ensure that the game is consumer-friendly, this aspect of the game was made optional, meaning that players can play the game digitally without purchasing any of the toys. Critics commented on the timing in which Ubisoft announced the title. It was during the time where popular toys-to-life titles including Skylanders (which its SuperChargers installment featured Mario series characters Bowser and Donkey Kong) and Disney Infinity were winding down. According to Laurent Malville, the game's creative director, the team believed that the game had enough innovation to revive the failing genre. Starlink: Battle for Atlas was announced by publisher Ubisoft during its press conference at E3 2017. At E3 2018 it was announced that the Nintendo Switch version of the game would feature a playable Fox McCloud and his Arwing ship from the Star Fox series, as well as supporting characters from the series in non-playable roles. The game was released on October 16, 2018.
The idea of bringing Fox into Starlink began at E3 2017. At the time, Ubisoft had a single private room to showcase the game, and a few executives from Nintendo came by. This visit was repeated three or four times, to the point where then-President of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé, arrived. Afterwards, the developers were invited to Nintendo HQ in Japan to showcase the game to Shigeru Miyamoto and the entire original Star Fox development team. The developers pitched the idea of integrating Fox into Starlink, giving him his own special abilities and his own skill tree, like any of the other pilots. They also pitched the Arwing as a modular ship, just like all the other Starlink ships. Miyamoto was given a 3D printed Arwing. Ubisoft was later given the go-ahead by Nintendo to integrate Fox and friends.
Reception[]
Starlink: Battle for Atlas received "generally favorable reviews" on the Xbox One and "mixed or average reviews" on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions of the game according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Trivia[]
- This is the first and so far only time Star Fox series characters make an appearance in a non-Nintendo game.
- The storyline of the Star Fox team stopping Star Wolf and helping Starlink Initiative is not canon to the Star Fox nor Starlink series in any way.
- The Star Fox characters, despite being anthropomorphic animals, are depicted at a short height in comparison to the Starlink protagonists, who are humans.
- This game is the first for the Nintendo Switch to feature Star Fox characters, as it predates Super Smash Bros. Ultimate by a few weeks.
- Despite their small screentime, some fans claim the details of the Star Fox characters in cutscenes are greater than in their source material.
References[]
- https://starlink.ubisoft.com/game/en-gb/home
- https://news.ubisoft.com/article/how-star-fox-joined-forces-with-starlink-battle-for-atlas-e3-2018 HOW STAR FOX JOINED FORCES WITH STARLINK: BATTLE FOR ATLAS – E3 2018
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